Clean out those internal case organs! I just qualified for a terrible case of "component neglect". I hadn't cleaned my case in months, and just went through a whole can of compressed air. Filled my whole room up with dust, and covered everything outside of my case with a nice sheet of it!

My CPU fan/radiator was completely clogged with dust - after a thorough blowout my CPU idle temps dropped from 42 to 34 C... Thats 8 degrees just from dust! If you haven't taken the time to clean out your case lately, be sure to do so.

Don't be an arrogant, thoughtless, neglectful owner like me. Be sure to clean out those fans, grilles, nooks/crannys and components!

This message brought to you by the Consortium for Computer Component Abuse Awareness!

Absolutely... Can't believe the difference it made. I also switched my fans from two outs to one in, one out, like logic would have it. But I'm not even bothering to put that in the message, I think I'm the only one stupid enough to not make sure this was happening in the first place!

Also, be careful not to force dust and/or grit into components or sockets when using forced air of any kind. You could create buildup in spots that's hard to remove it from.

And when using canned air, keep in mind it's Co2 delivered and can therefore quickly chill any parts you spray it on. If those parts are hot when you use it, it could cause immediate and drastic temperature changes.

I always let my PC cool down after turning it off completely before I used canned air, and let the parts warm back up before turning it back on after using it. Of course now I have a compressor, but for those whom still use canned air, use with caution. It can also leave a film of residue on your parts.

Also, be careful not to force dust and/or grit into components or sockets when using forced air of any kind. You could create buildup in spots that's hard to remove it from.

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Building on this, refrain from blasting air into headphone and microphone ports for a long period of time. You could push the internal pins down causing them to always be shorted. Which means your computer will mute your speakers because it thinks you have headphones plugged in even you don't. Fixing this is a wonderful mess.